It started as a hobby but after years of product research, sisters Tia and Niala became business partners, crafting their makeup in this studio and lab by hand.

“It really started with just ‘well, let’s see what happens when this gets mixed together’ and usually when that happens really pretty things happen,” says Tia Howard. “I love really bright, bold things and my sister has incredibly sensitive skin. We wanted to take out any harsh preservatives or anything in there that’s just going to make the bottle seem like it weighs more so you pay for just empty space.”

“Colors that you think are very simple are actually kind of difficult to make, like you won’t believe how many shades of red there are that exist in the world and trying to create that perfect one takes absolutely forever sometimes, once you get it it’s really exciting,” says Tia.

To make a lip gloss takes about twenty minutes from start to finish. You can even custom create your own color to match a wedding dress, for a special occasion or a Mardi Gras Ball.

“Ball season is our busiest season so January, February and March we really don’t travel. We can do runway, we can do print, we can do film. Performance standards are important to us. It doesn’t make sense to put it on and it comes right off,” says Niala.

High quality, highly pigmented products with a southern accent and that’s exactly how the Howard’s plan to keep it.

“It’s been amazing how people have been nice to us, they call us the ‘Magnolia Girls,’ we’ve traveled all over the world with makeup and there’s nothing like coming home,” says Niala.